By Firelight
by AppleL0V3R
Summary: Collection. "He likes you." "…he's my friend Kouichi, of course he likes me. Can't say I say the same though." "No, no. I mean he likes you." "What's the difference?"
1. Premorse: Premorse

**Title:** Premorse

**Author(s):** AppleL0V3R and ZOMGiwantspieNAAOOWW

**Beta-reader:** ZOMGiwantspieNAAOOWW

**Fandom:** Digimon Season Four: Frontier

**Pairing:** Kanbara, Takuya and Minamoto, Kouji

**Rating:** T

**Type:** One-shot – Complete

**Summary:** Izumi stared at her thumb nail, "I can't believe I broke it." Then she looked up just as Takuya and Kouji returned. Red faced.

**Theme:** Set 409 – Premorse

**Word Count:** 2,470

**Disclaimer:** If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

**Note:** I do change perspective some of the way through in the flashback. It wasn't intentional, but it just seemed easier. Since there's no real defined part that I can say Kouji's Perspective and all, I'm sorry if it confuses anybody. Also, I think Takuya is younger than Kouji, that's just my opinion though and I might not always stick to it.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

Premorse (_pre-more-ss)_

Pertaining to the end of something irregularly shortened, as if bitten or broken off.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

"Ow." Izumi muttered to herself when her thumbnail tore slightly, just enough to bother her. She made a mental note to clip it as soon as she got her hands on some clippers and perhaps even a nail file. "I can't believe I broke it." She shook her head, sending blonde locks every which way, there were still other things to think about. Such as where two of her friends had gone.

When she looked up though, Takuya and Kouji had both returned. Normally, she wouldn't have thought anything of it, they disappear at the same time all the time. Though Kouji usually has the decency to say that they were going to 'talk'. Sometimes she half wondered what they were usually doing. But when they do come back, one – usually Takuya – looks a little sore and their both glaring out of the corner of their eyes, so her guess was 'talking' equaled 'fighting'. At least they kept it out of public, though she still didn't like it. Boys.

This time though, something was definitely different. First and foremost they were both nearly scarlet in facial color and though they didn't look sore they certainly seemed awkward. And their cloths were slightly ruffled.

Shocked, curious and mischievous, Izumi tried to remember who dragged who off this time.

_One hour ago_

_High school cafeteria, a lunch table_

"_Anyone ever tell you, you have dog fetish, Kouji?" Takuya asked, not really paying attention to the food he was pushing around on his plate. It was cafeteria food, no way was he touching it passed playing with it. Though seemingly an out of the blue question, Takuya did have a reason for asking it. For one thing, he knew calling Kouji's love for his dog a fetish would tick him off and for the other he wanted to see if he could manipulate it to a certain point. _

_The raven haired boy, still wearing the same bandana he had for years, turned to him with narrowed eyes. A warning not to push it, "It's not a fetish Takuya."_

"_Yes it is." He volleyed back simply._

"_Oh really, and what proof do you have?"_

_Takuya didn't miss a beat, "You have a picture of your dog in your wallet. The only one besides one of you and Kouichi and another of our group photo."_

_Now the other boy was glaring, "What's wrong with that?" Never mind the fact that the above statement meant Takuya _knew_ exactly what was inside Kouji's wallet._

_Yep, the brown hair boy concluded, there was a chance that he could push this in the direction he wanted it to go. And his teachers said that he couldn't be persuasive, or smart. "Absolutely nothing. If you have a dog fetish."_

_Now if he knew Kouji as well as he thought he did, Kouji was going to stand up, grab his collar and drag him away while most likely telling the group that the two of the needed to' talk'. Takuya didn't have any intention of that though, or getting a sore cheek for that matter. Kouji could hit pretty damn hard when he wanted to._

_But to his surprise, that's not what Kouji did. Nope, he reached over and grabbed the plastic fork Takuya had been using to make shapes out of his food with. Then the pale skinned teen proceed to scoop up some of the food and shove it in Takuya's mouth. And he immediately spat it back out._

_Making a face, he did his best to wipe off all the disgusting food particles that hadn't come off. Well, okay. So he hadn't gotten Kouji to drag him off, that was okay because this was the perfect excuse to do so himself. _

_So scowling and glaring at the seventeen year old across from him, and stood up dramatically abrupt. Stalking around the table, Kouji followed him with narrow eyes, ones that warned him not to even _dare_ or he'd regret it. The rest of the table was so immune to this happening that no one really paid him any mind. Ignoring the look he was getting, he grabbed the back of his collar and started dragging._

_They'd done this so many times it was a wonder none of the teachers even _said_ anything. That didn't mean that Kouji didn't, the one getting dragged never stayed quiet. "Takuya, let go of my shirt right this minute."_

"_No."_

"_If you don't, then your going to regret it."_

"_Really? What are you going to do?"_

"_Pummel you."_

_And right on cue, some teacher noticed. Their science teacher, who they had next period. "Don't hurt each other, because if you do, I'll know." _

_Takuya grinned over his shoulder at her "We won't." He ignored Kouji's growled grumbling._

_She nodded and continued on her way and he on his. He dragged Kouji all the way to the park not far from the school put was still off campus, and as per usual in the day was deserted. They tended to use this place to argue since the public didn't seem to pay attention to them there._

_He let go of Kouji's collar and quickly backed up to avoid the fist aimed for his face, the raven haired boy didn't make hollow threats. He'd learned that the hard way. _

"_Umm, Kouji?"_

"_What?"_

"_Why'd you just try to hit me?" One of thing that Takuya had also learned early on was that it was fun to start petty arguments with the other boy, though that didn't necessarily mean that it was always the brightest thing to do. This was just part of his experiment, though I don't think it was one the biology teacher would be happy with, more like the chemistry teacher. _

_His question earned him a scowl and an exasperated look. "What game are you trying to play now, Takuya?"_

"_Game? No game, honest." Just a curiosity. _

_He snorted, "Yeah, like I believe that."_

_Takuya shrugged. "Hey, Kouji?"_

_He got silence as an answer; perhaps he'd pushed too many buttons today? Oh well, a few more _shouldn't_ kill him, but there was always the risk with a ticked off Kouji._

"_What would you say if…" He trailed off, realizing he should have planned farther than he did, or perhaps more detailed. _

"_If you said you were an idiot? Then you should shut up."_

"_Er, no. More like…" Damn, he hadn't thought it'd be this hard. "Um…" crap, definitely an experiment gone wrong._

"_Well?" Kouji demanded, getting really feed up with his friends antics. Did he really feel the need to tick him off nearly every day? Though today he seemed on a completely different track, the Takuya he knew wouldn't have stalled. So question was, what the hell was going through the moron's head?_

_He found out a second later just after the other had muttered "Ah, screw it." And grabbed his collar. Kouji's first instinct was to push away and defend, but before he could do either he froze in place when he felt Takuya's lips over his._

_The moron was…kissing him?_

_What the hell? Now he really wanted to know what was going on in the boy's mind, because he didn't have the slightest idea. The only problem being he found he didn't _want_ to move. Which meant it was probably best to do so. Not wanting to move away from Takuya's kiss? Did he have a fever? That's the only way that would make sense, unless the idiot did something to him. _

_Come to think of it, his stomach had been acting weird around the other boy for sometime now. Since the beginning of the year? No maybe a little longer, but since the only times he saw the high schooler was during lunch and walking home after school he always figured he was just hungry. Or something of the sort._

_And yeah, it was acting weird now but since he was already thinking about it, it didn't feel like hunger. It felt like it was twisting and doing summersaults, or maybe something was floating in it. Definitely not hunger._

_Which meant whatever was going on with him; it was the Goggle Head's fault. He didn't know how but there was no other explanation. All the odd things only happened around him._

"_Are you just going to stand there or answer my question?" Finally he realized that they weren't kissing anymore but the younger boy was still way too close for comfort._

_In an effort to gain back some semblance of the composure he'd lost, Kouji raised his hands and with a quick shove he took a step back. Then he looked away, his face felt hot for some reason "What question?" Was it just him, or did his voice sound slightly different. And so did Takuya's. Huh, it was probably just his imagination._

_He shuffled then. Ha. So he did lose his confidence sometimes, that was always good to know. "What would you say if…I…said I liked you?" The last part of it came out in a rush, but the Minamoto boy had still understood him. _

_And honestly, it shocked him. It was and it wasn't a Takuya thing to say. Straight forward, but a question as well. Maybe whatever Takuya had done to him, the brunette had gotten first? They were both acting weird, even by Izumi's standards. They'd kissed – well the Kanbara boy had kissed him, but still – for goodness sakes. …They'd kissed. He knew things were always eventful around this particular guy, but still. This? _

"_What was that? I didn't quite catch it." It was more to buy himself more thinking time then anything else, though it was somewhat adequate payback for kissing him._

"_I said: I like you!"_

_And that. I like you? Didn't Izumi always say that the first boy she kissed would be the one she loved? But then again, she is a girl; they tend to have all those fantasies. Then it sunk in. I like you. What the hell did that mean? As in I like you as a friend? No, then he wouldn't have kissed him. But it is Takuya, he could just be trying out a new prank. _

_But it felt real._

_Which would mean it's the _other_ like?_

_Oh how confusing. And not to mention that they were both guys. This was why he wasn't as social as the others. "You do realize we're both guys right?"_

"_Yeah, so? Like is like."_

"_You sure this isn't just another one of your experiments?" He hadn't even thought of that, he'd merely responded without thinking. Something he really shouldn't be doing in a situation like this. But still, Takuya had hit this weird hobby of experimenting with really odd ideas. _

_Kouji would know. He was either the victim or the unwilling accomplice most of the time._

_And as irritating as the concept was, that was all that was annoying. He found he didn't mind getting caught up in the messes just as long as he wasn't the victim when it involved liquids. That or as long as Kouichi was kept out of it, Takuya could come up with quite the 'unique' ideas when he wanted to. And was usually to stubborn to be stopped, best to go along with it and supervise to make sure nothing got any messier than it should. And all unfortunate bystanders weren't harmed in some way in the process._

"_Um both actually."_

_So he was the victim again, huh? Fine, two could play at that game. Taking only a few steps, Kouji closed the space between them and before the moron could do anything. He kissed him._

_Yeah, whatever idiocy Takuya had, Minamoto, Kouji had definitely been infected with. The initially idea had simply been to confuse and agitate him while throwing him off guard because that was always fun to do, not to mention watch the end result of. But he found, that once they once more kissing the urge to move away didn't come just as it hadn't before. So instead he moved forward acting completely on instinct – with, admittedly, all of Izumi's girlish fantasies in the back of his mind without his consent. _

_He wrapped his arms around the other's waist and pressed closer. Consequently this threw Takuya off balance. This, in turn, caused him to stumble and forced the raven haired boy to lose his balance, too. And somehow they'd ended up on the grassy ground next to the sidewalk in a tangle of limbs. _

_The brunette pushed himself up to his elbows and Kouji pulled his arm from the other's waist so he could rub his head which had thudded painfully against the ground in the process. Glaring up at the teen on top of him – how'd he end up on top? – with one eye, the one farthest from origin of the ache on the side of his head. "Get off."_

_Instead he tilted his head, "So is that an 'I like you, too'?"_

_Dark eyes narrowed and he resisted the urge to huff. Takuya could be so impossible sometimes. "Next time, do me a favor and brush your teeth first. The cafeteria food tastes horrible."_

"_Then you shouldn't have forced me to eat it!" He exclaimed and then paused and grinned in that mischievous way that made Kouji very wary. "Next time?"_

_Kouji groaned. He was right, he completely didn't like it. And the worst part was that he _had_ said 'next time'. "Not if you don't get off." And then resisted the urge to groan, he'd done it again._

"_Okay." Takuya complied with his grin still in place, pulling the slightly shorter boy up with him._

_He knew he should have started thinking what he said through. Now he was just going to try to keep his mouth shut._

_And how were they going to explain this to others?_


	2. Incunabulum: Incunabulum

**Title:** Incunabulum

**Author(s):** AppleL0V3R and ZOMGiwantspieNAAOOWW

**Beta-reader**: ZOMGiwantspieNAAOOWW

**Fandom:** Digimon Season Four: Frontier

**Pairing:** Kanbara, Takuya and Minamoto, Kouji

**Rating:** T

**Type:** One-shot – Complete

**Summary:** "He likes you." "…he's my friend Kouichi, of course he likes me. Can't say I say the same though." "No, no. I mean he _likes_ you." "What's the difference?"

**Theme:** 10 Vocab-Library LJ challenge (Set 409 – Incunabulum) Tease

**Word Count:** 65

**Disclaimer:** If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

**Incunabulum** (_en-kun-a-boo-lum_)

The earliest stages or first traces of anything.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

Kouji took the steps two at a time, it was more out of habit but his steps were slightly hurried. He didn't like staying at school longer than he had to, especially not on fridays. That and he was kind of avoiding Takuya. The brunette had been acting slightly off, he'd figured that whatever it wasn't his business and so hadn't got involved with it. And he hadn't thought he had anything to do with it, the boy was acting odd all around. No matter when he caught him, but to be honest it was kind of starting to worry him. Sure the two of them didn't always get along, but they were still good friends, could count on each other and whatever it was Takuya was going through, Kouji didn't want him to feel isolated.

But this was Takuya. The loud, cheerful teen didn't seem to have an off switch, nor was a pessimistic. Well, except on rare occasions and Kouji was pretty sure they weren't the circumstance.

But the only reason the raven haired teen had yet to do anything was because Takuya continually found an excuse out of saying whatever it was that was on his mind. He had to hand it to him, the boy was a master of being evasive when he wanted, considering he'd managed to get out of it at least five time in the past few weeks.

But that just fueled the fire. Kouji was certain that something was up, but that it was strictly about Takuya and not anybody else.

Still, he figured that if he hurried a little, he'd catch Takuya at practice, that why the boy couldn't escape easily and Kouji would have some time to make sure that this was really just something with Takuya and not everyone around him.

He easily found his way to the soccer field, careful to stay out of the way and closer to the stands so that Takuya wouldn't see him all that easily.

To his surprise, Takuya was acting exactly like Takuya. As if there wasn't something to be off about, which made Kouji confused. Could he have been imagining the whole thing? Surely not. So then what was up was this.

Unless...no. Not possible. Well, just to be on the safe side he'd ask Izumi to get a response out of him. That was what girls did best right? Got answer and managed to go unnoticed, at least Izumi could anyway. But he was still going to try to corner him because there wasn't any reason why he shouldn't.

He knew practice would be over soon, less than five minutes if they didn't go past the time they were supposed to. But with the way Takuya and his teammates were working down the field yet again, it was clear that it would be over very soon.

And he was right, Takuya didn't get the winning score, he could have but chose to be a team player. Huh, Kouji thought, so people can get better about somethings. That didn't mean he was the greatest either, the guy still had a major superiority complex, he just had a better hold on it.

Soon enough, Takuya was jogging towards the school, and Kouji chose that moment to step away from the stands and right in his path. The eldest Kanbara boy came to a halt and suddenly he was awkward again.

Clearly, Kouji hadn't been imagining it. "Hey, Goggle-Head."

It took him a moment, but he suspected it was because the other was still surprised over the fact that Kouji had bothered to find him at his practice. It simply wasn't a Kouji thing to do. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"You tell me."

The brunette blinked and took a step back. "You think something's wrong with me? Figures, it's called being nice Kouji. You should try it some time."

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Is that the best comeback you've got, you can usually do better than that."

The flushed slightly, "Whatever, look I'm gonna go change out so see ya later."

Kouji would have blinked with surprise at the fact that Takuya hadn't taken the bait, but that's what was off about him. He hadn't been arguing or anything of that nature since a few weeks ago. And to be honest, it was starting to irritate Kouji.

But he let the brunette pass without incident because he was resolving to himself that he was definitely going to talk to Izumi.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

Kouichi caught up to his twin, falling in step with the boy who was clearly thinking hard about something.

"What's up, nii-san?"

Blue eyes glanced up at him distractedly as he nodded.

The older of the two rolled his own eyes, "I mean what are you thinking about?"

"Takuya." Came the distracted response.

Kouichi's eyes lit up with what he was pretty sure was a mischievous grin. He could ask for a better opening. Seriously, distracted and thinking about Takuya? The eldest twin was fairly damn sure that his adorable younger twin liked the resident brash idiot of the group as more than a friend. Though he was also just as certain that Kouji didn't know this fact himself. Neither did Takuya, but if Kouichi was right the brunette had begun to realize that he liked Kouji.

Oh this was perfect.

"What about him?" Kouichi prodded, making sure to check his voice just in case. Kouji could be attentive to the oddest things at different times and he didn't want his vocals to give him away.

Kouji looked at Kouichi for a long moment and the older was almost beginning to think he'd been caught. But then those raven eyes turned back to the road ahead of them, "He's been acting weird. Like, not as argumentative. Have you noticed? I was going to ask Izumi to check it out."

Kouichi blinked, and the glow in his eyes softened as he realized his little brother was worried about his crush. The Kimura boy reminded himself to be careful and maybe he could trick Kouji into realization. Perhaps not now, but the other would think about the conversation later and one thing would lead to another. Hopefully the end result was Kouji accepting and doing something about his feelings.

"He likes you." The words had slipped out, he hadn't meant to speak them, just think them and then build off of it. He cursed his big mouth. Well there went this chance, and made all the others a lot more difficult.

Kouji raised an eyebrow in that 'duh, I know that' kind of way. "…he's my friend Kouichi, of course he likes me. Can't say I say the same though."

He breathed out as slightly as he could in relief. But then an idea occurred to him and he decided to work off of what he had subconsciously started. "No, no. I mean he _likes_ you."

This time his expression twisted into confusion and exasperation. "What's the difference?"

"The difference, my dear twin, is the amount of like."

The seemed to pause and contemplate that before his countenance turned to horrification. "Wait, you mean that's why he's..."

Kouichi grinned and nodded. Then he simply waited and watched, having the sudden feeling that though he wasn't supposed to part ways with Kouji for a few blocks, he was going to be walking home on his own here soon. Well, it'd be worth it if it turned out the way he wanted it to. The way all of them did, they'd seen this coming since before they got back from the digital world which was years ago. They were already in high school, for goodness sake.

And his hunch turned out to be correct when a few moments later Kouji stopped walking. Kouichi did so as well but only looked back over his shoulder.

"I'll catch up with you later." Kouji muttered before he turned on his heel and dashed.

Grin still on his face Koucihi resumed his trek home.

..:Xx0o0xX:..

Takuya could only blink in surprise when suddenly Kouji was once more in his face. Like literally. His stomach flipped at the implication and he tried to push it away - unsuccessfully - as he had been doing for a long time now. He tried to tell himself that this was Kouji, his best friend, and that he shouldn't feel this way towards him. Especially considering he was pretty sure his crush didn't feel the same.

But he did.

And nothing he'd tried would make it go away. Stupid emotions. He was starting to feel like a girl with all of them, which was not cool and besides if there was any possibility of a relationship of that sort with anyone - Kouji - who wasn't a girl - Kouji - then wouldn't he be on top?

Well, right now that wasn't exactly relevant anyway. What was, was what the heck was Kouji doing?

"Kouji?"

"You like me." Was the flat accusation.

Takuya blinked again and fell back a step to put some space between them so that he could attempt to think clearly. Did Kouji just say what the brunette thought he did? No way, he'd been so careful about hiding it too. "Uh, what? Could you run that by me again?"

Kouji took a step closer. "You. Like. Me."

Yep, he really had said that. So being Takuya, he did a very Takuya thing. He took a step forward as well, putting them so close that there chests brushed against one another with each inhale. "So, you like me, too."

This time it was Kouji he blinked with surprise. Takuya could only curse himself, making such a blatant lie and especially to the other boy's face. Now there was absolutely no chance of anything happening, with the assumption that there was any in the first place.

Kouji was quiet a long moment, his normally half-lidded eyes hooded.

And before Takuya knew it, he was acting on impulse again And this time, it was much worse. Because he'd leaned forward and kissed the older teen.

Gee, he thought to himself, _that_ was a _great_ idea.

He was about to yank back when, Kouji leaned forward a little bit more, kissing him back.

Takuya froze for the barest of moments. Kouji was kissing him back. Kouji, his crush, his rival, was kissing back.

Before he could do anything more though, the abovementioned boy yanked back suddenly, taking a few quick steps backwards while he was at it.

For a moment they stayed like that, neither really meeting the others eyes.

And then Kouji turned around as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "I do like you. And you like me. Now that we've got that cleared up will go back to acting like yourself."

The brunette was baffled speechless for a moment before he couldn't help but think 'well, wasn't that a Kouji thing to say'. So he decided to follow suit. He jogged forward until he was side by side with the other boy and then slowed to stay in step as he threw his hands in the area, clasping his hands together at the back of his head and his elbows stuck out in each direction.

"Sure. As long as that can happen again."


End file.
